Bennett College to be torn down

MILLBROOK — A decision has come regarding the former Bennett College buildings at the gateway to the village. At 4 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 30, Millbrook Mayor Laura Hurley received an 11-page decision from Hearing Officer Richard Golden sustaining the Millbrook zoning enforcement officer’s (ZEO) January Notice of Unsafe Buildings to tear them down.

The six decrepit buildings are known as the Halcyon Hall Complex. These structures have been vacant since Bennett closed in 1977 and are an irresistible lure to passing photographers and curious teenagers who are often chased off the property by police.

The opinion gives the ZEO 30 days from Sunday, Aug. 29, to establish a reasonable start and completion date for the demolition, “taking into consideration reasonable time frames to secure all of the required permits from the New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation the New York State Department of environmental conservation, public utilities.�

Golden’s opinion is focused solely on whether the village ZEO had acted appropriately and within his powers.

“I conclude and hereby find that the evidence clearly supports a finding that the ZEO’s notice and findings therein are supported by substantial evidence and were not arbitrary or capricious,� he stated.

The village began the process a year ago when it hired Wilfred Rohde, a licensed structural engineer to report on the condition of the buildings. Rohde’s report reconfirmed that the buildings are “structurally unsound and beyond repair.�

The decision comes after a long, contentious hearing process, which began with the ZEO filing an order to demolish the buildings and the Jan. 29 appeal of Bennett Acquisitions, the property’s owner, and Blumenthal-Brickman, the developer.

The village hired Richard Golden as a hearing officer to decide on the merits of the demolition order and positions from both sides were argued before Golden at the Millbrook firehouse on April 29 and June 29. Final written arguments from both sides were provided to Golden on Tuesday, July 19.

“The Village Board has maintained the position that we expect the property owner, or his agent, to take responsibility for the condition of the Bennett property,â€� stated  Hurley. “Our residents deserve to see this gateway property rehabilitated and respected.â€�

Reached by phone, Mark Miller, of Veneziano & Associates, attorney for Bennett Acquisitions, had “no comment� on Golden’s opinion or next steps by his client.

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